The 56 year old, who was born in Oklahoma to Egyptian parents, is no stranger to the show, having co-hosted the fourth hour and occasionally filled in for the main anchors. But following Lauer’s dismissal for sexual misconduct towards a colleague – an accusation that he admits ‘has truth’ to it – Kotb takes a step-up in the hierarchy of a show that has been on-air since 1952.

Kotb has also found success in the world of publishing after the release of her New York Times Bestselling book, Hoda: How I Survived War Zones, Bad Hair, Cancer, and Kathie Lee, much of which focuses on her battle with breast cancer, which concluded in a mastectomy in 2007. She has since become an advocate for breast cancer awareness.

The news has been met with sense of enthusiasm by media in the US; not only is she a seasoned anchor whose work has taken her across much of the US and even to Egypt in the 80s where she worked as a CBS news assistant, but she also has a Daytime Emmy to her name as part of the Today Show in 2010. Similarly, other NBC anchors and hosts including, Al Roker, Carson Daly and Andrea Mitchell, have welcomed the news, as Kotb prepares to take her place alongside co-anchor, Savannah Guthrie.__________

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